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To race across the entire State of Alaska,
both the dogs and mushers need a lot of food and supplies.
This food and equipment is prepared by the
mushers and sent out along the trail about two and a half weeks before the start
of the Iditarod. Mushers call these supplies "Food Drops."
Background Information
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| These are the food drop
bags labeled with checkpoint and musher names. The number
corresponds to the bag number sent to each checkpoint. For
example, if a musher sends 3 bags to a checkpoint, each bag will be
numbered so that the musher can differentiate between the three bags. |
Food Drops are sent out to 18
checkpoints along the 1,159-mile race trail. The food and supplies are
placed into large woven plastic bags and labeled with the name of the musher and
the checkpoint for which each is destined. Each musher sends out around
2,000 pounds of food and supplies in his or her Food Drops.
Mushers are responsible for preparing their
own Food Drops and taking them to a collection points at Anchorage or
Fairbanks. The Iditarod is responsible for sending the food out to the
checkpoints along the trail, but mushers must pay the race 37 cents per pound
for the shipping and handling. No roads are along the Iditarod
trail. Everything is flown out by bush planes part of the
"Iditarod Air Force."
Planning
The first step of Food Drops is a lot of
planning. Mushers must decide their tentative race strategy--where will
the team be, and when, and for how long, and how far will they run before the
next rest stop? Additionally, extra food and supplies must be sent out to
most checkpoints in case bad weather arises or the team's race strategy
changes. The planning must be very thorough because sending out supplies
after the Food Drops have been sent out is very difficult.
What is Carried in the Bags???
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| Hundreds and hundreds of
pounds of dog food are sent out by each musher. The top photo
shows just the frozen meats used by ONE DOG TEAM in the Iditarod.
The bottom photo shows how the food is bagged in the exact right
quantities for convenient use at every checkpoint. |
The major thing in every Food Drop bag is dog
food. This makes sense because every dog requires between 10 and
14,000 calories every day!!! (read more about dog
food)
In addition to dog food, mushers also pack
food and supplies for themselves (click here for more
about these things).
Dog booties
to protect the dogs' feet, extra runner plastic
for the bottom of the sled runners, batteries to power the musher's head
lamp, extra harnesses and ganglines,
and a few extra parts for the sleds are also sent to some of the checkpoints.
A musher will send out approximately the
following:
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400 pounds of dry dog food
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600-1000 pounds of meats and fats for the
dogs
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150 pounds of human food and drinks
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50 pounds of personal gear (gloves,
socks, mittens, extra boot liners, etc.)
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40 pounds of dog booties (A set of
booties for every dog in the team at every planned rest stop and check
point.)
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100 pounds of extra equipment for sleds,
runner plastic, spare parts, etc.
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10 pounds of batteries for musher
headlamps.
Dog Sleds
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| This is one dog team's
worth of food and gear (for the musher and dogs). The weight is
about 2,000 pounds. |
Mushers are allowed to send out sleds
to two checkpoints of their choice so that they can use smaller, lighter sleds
as they get farther into the race, or replace sleds that may get damaged over
rough parts of the trail, especially the crossing of the Alaska Range.
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